Teco, a young bonobo chimpanzee, is exhibiting signs of autistic behavior, according to BoingBoing. His famous father, Kanzi, uses symbols to communicate with humans. Both chimps can be found at The Great Ape Trust, a nonprofit foundation whose tag line is “Insights through Collaborations with Apes.”
Researchers immediately noticed that Teco was not acting like normal baby chimps. He did not bond with his mother, did not make eye contact and he became agitated when his surroundings weren’t exactly as he wanted them to be. Sound familiar? Furthermore, Teco is showing some repetitive movement, another very human sign of autism syndrome.
Here are a few more questions, answered by Teco’s caretakers: Q &A.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3BaixEt7qQ
Teco